Nontrivial topological valence bands of common diamond and zinc-blende semiconductors
At a Glance
Section titled āAt a Glanceā| Metadata | Details |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 2019-06-17 |
| Journal | Physical Review Materials |
| Authors | TomĆ”Å” Rauch, V. A. Rogalev, Maximilian Bauernfeind, Julian Maklar, Felix Reis |
| Institutions | Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg |
| Citations | 3 |
Abstract
Section titled āAbstractāThe diamond and zinc-blende semiconductors are well-known and have been\nwidely studied for decades. Yet, their electronic structure still surprises\nwith unexpected topological properties of the valence bands. In this joint\ntheoretical and experimental investigation we demonstrate for the benchmark\ncompounds InSb and GaAs that the electronic structure features topological\nsurface states below the Fermi energy. Our parity analysis shows that the\nspin-orbit split-off band near the valence band maximum exhibits a strong\ntopologically non-trivial behavior characterized by the $\mathcal{Z}_2$\ninvariants $(1;000)$. The non-trivial character emerges instantaneously with\nnon-zero spin-orbit coupling, in contrast to the conventional topological phase\ntransition mechanism. \textit{Ab initio}-based tight-binding calculations\nresolve topological surface states in the occupied electronic structure of InSb\nand GaAs, further confirmed experimentally by soft X-ray angle-resolved\nphotoemission from both materials. Our findings are valid for all other\nmaterials whose valence bands are adiabatically linked to those of InSb, i.e.,\nmany diamond and zinc-blende semiconductors, as well as other related\nmaterials, such as half-Heusler compounds.\n